Darayya marks Ramadan as displaced residents return (Photos)

DARAYYA — Ramadan feels different this year in Darayya, a city just south of the Syrian capital Damascus. After thousands of displaced people returned in recent months, the city’s markets are bustling, “despite weak purchasing power due to the poor economy,” pastry shop owner Raed al-Sharbaji said. 

Typically, food prices increase during the holy month due to increased demand. This year, prices in Darayya are “cheaper than last year,” al-Sharbaji told Syria Direct. “A kilogram of chicken costs SYP 60,000 [$5.85], while last year it was SYP 110,000 [$7.50].”

Raed al-Sharbaji bakes pastries in his shop in Darayya, 4/3/2025 (Abd Almajed Alkarh/Syria Direct)

The prices of some vegetables are also down by “more than half,” Darayya resident Muhammad Rateb, 31, said. A kilogram of potatoes currently costs SYP 3,000 ($0.29), down from SYP 12,000 ($0.82) last year.  

A shopkeeper in Darayya sells a variety of pickles and bags of erk sous—a dark, bittersweet licorice root drink sold during Ramadan, 1/3/2025 (Abd Almajed Alkarh/Syria Direct)

Since the Assad regime fell on December 8, 2024, Darayya’s population has grown from 100,000 to 125,000 people, according to figures Syria Direct obtained from local authorities in late January. 

However, the massive level of destruction in Darayya—once dubbed Syria’s “capital of barrel bombs”—still prevents many from returning to the city, home to 350,000 people before 2011. 

This piece was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.